Captive Hearts
by Chicken Whisperer
Summary: Action, Adventure, Romance! What happens when the sheriff makes a new friend, an outlaw finds a young lady, and two lovers may be parted forever?
1. Rendevous and Walks in the Dark

Captive Hearts

A Robin Hood Tale

Author's Note: For the purpose of my story Marion's house was never burned down. This is my first story so reviews are welcome.

Chapter One: Rendevous and Walks in the Dark

Sherwood Forest

Running that was all she could remember. The feeling of needing to get away was so strong she did not think about where to go or what she would do when she got there. Wearing only her brothers shirt and pants, not coat or shoes to help protect her from the cool Fall elements, she ran blindly into the night.

Outlaws Camp

The gang had settled down for the night, feeling secure in their new well disguised camp; they all slept soundly, except for one. Allan A. Dale paced restlessly around the camps interior. Something was going to happen, he could feel it. A tension in the air left the forest outside utterly quiet. As he paced, not able to sleep, he listened for any of the normal noises of the night; no frogs, no crickets, nothing. The only sound of his friend Much snoring was the only sound being made. He ran his fingers through his shaggy Blond hair and let out a sigh. His conscience was starting to get to him. Supplying information to Gisbourne gave him money, but did not give him the happiness he thought it would. Something was missing. Robin and the gang seemed content getting absolutely nothing while risking their necks for the poor. It just didn't make sense. He tried to make these thoughts go away by busying himself with the embers smoldering in the fire place. Robin stirred around on the other side of the camp. In a moment he was up and came over to Allan.

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Robin.

"No, what are you doing up?"

"I am going to go pay the Night Watchman a visit", Robin answered as he slipped on his boots.

"Does Marian know you are coming?" asked Allan.

"Now what would the fun in that be?" answered Robin, a grin spreading across his face.

"Alright, but one of these times she is liable to stab you for sneaking in her window after dark."

"I'll just have to let her know it's me before that happens. Try to get some rest, we'll need you tomorrow when the sheriffs money for the Black Knights passes out way."

"Yeah, see you later." said Allan

Without a look back Robin Hood disappeared into the darkness.

Kighton Hall

A short while later he was climbing in the window of his loves bedroom. He wasn't to upset by the fact that Marian and Edward's home was watched during the day. Night visits made it easier to surprise Marian. He crossed the room quietly, leaned his bow on the wall, and silently made his way to the side of her bed. Robin sat down next to her, enjoying the even sound of her breathing. Before he could think better of it leaned over and gently kissed his sleeping loves lips. Marian's eyes opened with a start, and then realizing who was in her room, she relaxed back against her pillows. Confident she was not going to attack him like Allan had joked, Robin flashed a self-confident smile.

"Robin, would you mind explaining why I have an outlaw in my room in the middle of the night." Marian asked jokingly.

"I need to talk to you about something, and I didn't want to risk being seen during the day."

"I see, and did you know that the guards leave around an hour after nightfall?"

"I know, but you do have to admit you're happy to see me." Robin said still smiling.

She loved it when he smiled, not only with his mouth, but with his eyes too. He had been through so much in the Holy Land; she probably would never know the full extent of the horrors he had seen, and she didn't think she wanted to know.

"Alright, I'm glad to see you; it has been quiet this past week." Marian said smiling back at him.

She sat up in bed, letting her blankets slide down around her waist. Being the true gentlemen he was, Robin looked adoringly into her eyes, ignoring the delicate material that made up Marians nightgown. Seeing all the love in his eyes made Marian's heart feel like soaring. Gently she pushed Robin's hair from in front of his eyes with one hand, and tenderly stroked his stubbly beard with the other hand. She closed the distance between them and kissed him. The kiss was slow and sweet, but filled with underlying passion. In these moments they were able to forget about all their problems and troubles. Neither wanting the moment to be over, they slowly ended the kiss, but remained in each other's arms. Robin laid his head on her soft brown curls and she rested her head upon his chest. The world was the way it should be when they were this close.

A breeze came blowing in the window, left open by Robin, and his bow was knocked to the floor with a thump. From downstairs Edward could be heard moving about.

"Marian…Marian was that you? Are you alright?" Edward called up the stairs, concerned for his only daughter.

"I'm fine father, I'm sorry I disturbed you." Marion yelled as she pulled away from her love.

"What happened?" Edward called back up the stairs.

"I…I fell out of bed." Stuttered Marion, who glared at Robin for snickering at her excuse.

"Oh, goodnight then" Edward said not knowing he had interrupted one of the few quiet moments that Robin and Marion found time for.

"What is it that you needed to tell me?" Marion asked as she relaxed back a little.

"There are outlaws in the forest, other than my gang, and they are stealing women found alone in or around the Sherwood. I don't think you should go into the forest without me or one of the lads to protect you." Robin said completely serious.

"Robin, you forget, I'm the Night Watchman. I can take care of myself."

"I know you can, but these men supposedly attack their victims in large groups. Promise me you won't go into the forest without an escort."

"Fine, I promise I will be careful." Marion said with a smirk. "Now it is time for you to leave."

"You're no fun Marion." Robin said as he stood up.

"Yes, well, all the same it's time for you to go."

Marion started to get up, but Robin put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her back down. He planted a light kiss on her lips, and turned around and left out the window. Marion went back to sleep, but was harassed by bad dreams for the remainder of the night.

Sherwood Forest

She stumbled. Her foot had caught on a tree root that was sticking out the ground. She didn't know how long she had been running, but her mind could hear the footfalls of horses chasing after her. She picked herself up and continued running at full speed. She looked back over her shoulder to see if anyone could be seen behind her. Before she knew what happened she was on the ground again. As she was struggling to find out what she had hit, and get up, she was pinned to the ground. Straddling over top her was a man, knowing it was on of her captures she began fighting. She swung her arms and connected with a strong jaw. Her hand broke with the impact. Crying out in pain, she had never been so scared. Everything around her went black and she slipped into unconsciousness's embrace. Allan A Dale had only been taking a short walk, trying to clear his head when he was hit from the side. Now as he stood up and drew his knife, he found his assailant out cold. It was a dark night, but he could see the person in front of him was small and thin. A hood covered the sleeping forms face. Rubbing his jaw, he crouched down to get a closer look at his attacker. Reaching his hand out he tugged the hood back roughly.

"Well… that's' a shocker." Allan stated.

Laying in front of him was a women; she was young too. If he had to guess he's say about eighteen give or take a few years.

"Hey come on, wake up." Allan said unsure of what to do.

He gave the unconscious women a nudge, and she stirred around but did not regain her senses. Sitting back he wondered what he should do. He couldn't just leave her, thinking back to the day the gang had found the baby in the woods. That seemed so long ago now back before Allan had betrayed Robin and the gang. If time could be turned back he would have let Gisbourne kill him. It couldn't have been any worse than the constant guilt he felt now. Shaking his head clearing it of these thoughts he went back to deciding what to do about the mystery girl in front of him. If he carried her back to the camp he would risk exposing its location to the wrong person, traitor though he was, he would not be able to live with himself if he was the cause of one of his friends deaths. He had already decided leaving her wasn't an option, after all she could be in some kind of trouble. Robin had mentioned a band of nasty outlaws in the forest that were stealing women to sell, but she didn't look hurt or even that dirty, a little thin perhaps. She was in men's close, but Marion and Djaq wore pants and shirts too. She defanitly did not look like Djaq and the other Saracen's did when the gang had found them. A wagon of funds for the Black Knights was scheduled to come through Sherwood tom arrow, and he would probably be missed if he was not there to help. Marion had let everyone know about its planned path, and while Allan had full intention of telling Gisbourne what they knew, something had stopped him. Finnaly he decided that staying where they were would be the best plan, if the women had not woke up by morning Allan would take her back to the camp. Settling back against a tree, Allan prepared for a long wait until dawn. Seeing how he did not have any rope on him to tie his attacker up with, sleep would be a bad idea. Sleep, the one thing he wanted so badly, the one thing that had avoided him at all cost, was making his eyelids very heavy. Before he knew it was happening, Allan fell into the deepest sleep he had in weeks.


	2. Chapter Two: Where's Allan?

Outlaws Camp 

The sun was coming up over the horizon when Much set about making breakfast. Eggs were on the menu for this morning, much like every other morning. What he wouldn't give for a feast of bacon, biscuits, fresh fruit, and other delicious things. In the forest however, the meals were very monotonous. The money from Nottingham was supposed to arrive in Sherwood a little before midday, so that meant that everyone needed to get up early. There needed to be plenty of time to get to the sight of the ambush, set up where everyone would lay in waiting, and do a test run of it. Much walked over to where Robin was sleeping and crouched down beside him.

"Master…" Much said reaching out and gently tapping Robin's shoulder, "Master it's time to get up."

"Thank you, Much." A sleepy sounding Robin Hood replied.

The night visits to Knighton were taking a toll on him, even though he considered it well worth the loss of sleep to see his love.

"Wake the others so we can get ready for today." Robin said as he slowly straightened into a standing position.

"Master, I hate to say it but you really should be getting more sleep." Much said in a tone that made him sound like a mother hen.

"When King Richard is home, back in England, and everything is right again I will sleep plenty. For now we have work to do, come on."

"Right work, I think we could all use a day of rest; no one has any energy around here, especially Allan. He hasn't been looking so well, Djaq even asked him if he was feeling alright. Don't try telling me it's my cooking either because I don't see anyone else volunteering to take over kitchen duty."

"Calm down Much, no one thinks your cooking is making Allan sick. He hasn't been sleeping; he was awake last night when I went to see Marion." Robin replied as he was handed a plate of food from his most trusted friend.

Much walked over to where Will was sleeping, and gave the youngest member of the gang a light shake. Will volunteered to wake Djaq which was occurring almost daily, earning a thought that the two might be becoming more than friends from Much. Turning his head away from Will whispering Djaq's name to her in her sleep to wake her, Much went back to the task at hand. Waking Allan; never an easy job, Much stopped trying to be nice about the whole thing and generally (and seemingly happily) settled for a couple of kicks in the side to wake the unnaturally deep sleeping Allan. In a matter of seconds Much noticed the very empty bunk were Allan always slept. He looked around the camp for somewhere Allan might have fallen asleep, but realized he was nowhere to be found. Hurriedly he walked back to where Robin was finishing his eggs.

"Robin, Allan is missing; he's not here." Much said in the anxious tone Robin had become well accustomed to in the years of knowing him.

Raising his eyebrows in a "what's your point" fashion Robin replied, "Maybe he went out for a walk."

Djaq and Will walked over to the fire, the first with a concerned look on her face which did not go unnoticed by the second.

"Allan out for a walk in the morning, are we talking about the same Allan. I mean he's always the last one to get up and around in the morning and the first one in bed at night. I can't imagine him making a point to take an early morning stroll." Much said, leaving the others nodding their heads in agreement.

"No. that wouldn't be like him; I told him we needed him today, where on Earth would he have gone to?" Robin said becoming annoyed with the missing con-man.

"What should we do?" Will asked the gangs leader.

"What is going on?" came the booming voice of Little John. He apparently had been forgotten with the discovery of Allan's absence.

"Allan has disappeared." informed Djaq.

"Allan, where would he be this early?" John questioned to no one in particular.

"I don't know," Robin said, "but if he is not back here in the next little bit we will have to leave without him."


	3. Chapter Three: Fawn

Chapter Three: Fawn

Sherwood Forest

She woke up confused and more than a little scared. She didn't know how many guards might be watching her so she held perfectly still. Not hearing anyone, she barely cracked her eyes open. She didn't see anyone to her left, but glancing to her right, leaning against a tree sleeping was the man from last night. His eye was blackened from their fight, but other than that he looked strong. If he woke up she would be no match for him. Last night she was going on nothing other than fear and adrenaline, this morning she felt every sore muscle and the hunger of not eating in a week. Deciding that she needed to get away, at least far enough to hide, she painfully sat up on her knees.

She hurt but thought she could get to some-what of a safer place; never taking her eyes off the sleeping man she shakily stood up. 'Maybe this won't be so hard' she though as she moved to take her first step, hope creeping into the back of her mind. As her right foot touched the ground, however, pain shot up threw her ankle, crying out in shock and pain she hit the forest floor in a heap.

Allan jumped to his feet prepared for anything when he heard the loud shriek, but what he wasn't entirely prepared for was the beautiful young women lying on the ground in front of him. Obviously she had tried to run off and hurt herself, because there was no one else around. Allan walked closer to her, mentally kicking himself for falling asleep, and stopped a few feet away from the girl.

"I'm not bein' funny, but you're not going anywhere." Allan said looking down at her clearly swollen ankle.

"I won't go back there, not alive, so you will have to kill me." The girl said as she looked up at Allan he noticed for the first time her deep red hair that fell around her shoulders and violet colored eyes shining with fear and determination. Momentarily Allan was too distracted to comprehend what she had said.

"What?"

"I said the only way you can make me go back there is if I'm dead."

"Go back to where? Honest I don't know what you are talking about, I've never seen you before."

"Of course you haven't, I'm sure you attacked me, just so you can lead me back to safety. At least that is what you will tell me as you take me back to be tortured further."

"Torture? I do want to help, I'm Allan A Dale. I am one of Robin Hood's men."

"One of Robin Hood's men? If you were with Robin Hood why would you be alone in the middle of the night and attack me?"

"Attack you, you've got your story mixed up. I was out for a walk and you blind-sided me! Besides I can prove I'm with Robin, here."

Allan pulled his tag out from the front of his shirt and walked closer to the young woman. She backed up a little, still unsure if he was telling the truth. His eyes were hiding something, what that something was she didn't know. Pain shot through her ankle as she backed away, but she was determined not to cry in front of him. Allan noticed her flinch and worried she had caused it some new injury, hurried to her side. Once he was there he allowed her a closer look at his necklace that only Robin Hood's gang wore.

"You're hurt, we need to get you to Djaq, the outlaws resident physician. You can tell me your story on the way." Allan said standing.

"Thank you, and I'm sorry I hit you. I thought you were one of the men chasing me."

Allan helped her stand, but it was clear to him that she wouldn't be able to walk. Once she was standing next to him, Allan realized just how small she was. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders.

"What's your name?" Allan asked still helping to support the so far nameless girl.

"Fawn" she replied

"Well then Fawn, it looks like I will be carrying you." Allan said flashing a cheeky grin.

"No, I think I can walk." she said with a stubborn look on her face.

Taking a small step forward, things looked promising until her barefoot touched the ground for the second time that morning, and for the second time that morning she screamed with the pain. This time ,however, she did not fall to the ground, but into Allan's arms.

"Like I said, I'll carry you." Allan said lifting Fawn to his chest.

"If your camp is far, you will not be able to carry me all the way." Fawn said.

"I'm not being funny, but your tiny, I could carry you to the ends of the Earth and back."

And with that they headed back towards the outlaws camp.


	4. Chapter Four: The Sheriff's New Friend

**Thank you to the lovely people who reviewed my story, you know who you are. The input was very nice and more is welcome. Sorry for not posting a new story in forever, but I am a college freshman and have been completely swamped with homework.**

Nottingham Castle

"Sheriff, sir" said the guard walking into the great hall where Vaisey and Gisbourne were discussing the upcoming annual fair.

"What do you want? I'm busy." Replied the Sheriff

Last year's festival did not turn out as the sheriff had hoped, and thinking of Hood getting away once again gave him a nasty headache.

"There is someone here to see you sir; he said you were expecting him."

"Oh yes, come Gisbourne lets go greet our new business associate." The sheriff said suddenly happy.

They walked down the hall toward the front gate of the castle; Vaisey beaming over his new money making scheme while Sir Guy stalked behind him. The tall leather clad man did not entirely approve of this method of business, but to speak against it would make him appear weak, so he agreed to it.

Standing waiting for them was a man that looked like he could have been any other nobleman; clean shaven, wearing nice clothes, and standing with perfect posture. Only the Sheriff and his most elite inner circle knew the truth. This man was no nobility, quite the opposite he was of the lowest rank possible, an outlaw. This man was Drake the Black, infamous for being cruel. Some said his name came from the color of his heart, others say he had no heart at all and the latter were probably closer to the truth. Drake was the leader of a band of around thirty or so other rejects of society, and they had made their current camp in Sherwood Forest. They had been capturing young and pretty girls then selling them to the highest bidder. He was not the least bit kind to his captives, feeding them only enough to survive and punished them, when they tried to run, in ways that left no physical mark for their new masters to see. A couple of weeks before some of his men were caught in the act and arrested; Drake himself came to the castle, paid their bail, and negotiated with the Sheriff. Vaisey was more than pleased with the deal they made. The agreement was that if the Sheriff and his guards ignored his activities then Drake would pay him forty percent of the profits made. This was no great loss to Drake; with King Richard away the law had become virtually non-existent. Noblemen, especially in these parts were lining up to buy a pretty girl or two to hang on their arm, and now he was here to drop off the money for the last girl he sold. She was a pretty thing with golden hair and blue eyes. He was selling her for two thousand pounds, but only received fifteen hundred for her due to a black eye she obtained in route to her new home. Normally his men would not hit the women in the face, but this girl had caused enough problems. She had tried to escape and had been caught; annoyingly another that had helped her escape had gotten away. She was a true beauty, Drake was considering keeping her to himself, and was still toying with the idea, which left a very wealthy gentleman in the south constantly, raising the price he would pay for her. The aging nobleman was married, but was unable to conceive an heir with his wife, and felt the only way to amend this situation was to get a new girl.

"My good man, how are things?" Said the sheriff as he strutted up to Drake, shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Fine Sheriff, just fine; I have something you may be e interested in." Drake said indicating a locked strong box.

"Ahh yes, business is booming I hope." Said Vaisey moving towards the box.

"Apart from a small misfortune, yes, things are going rather well."

"Misfortune? Nothing that would affect our little agreement." The sheriff asked with a slightly worried look in his eyes.

"No, you money is all there, I promise you." Drake answered in his most sincere voice.

"Good, that's very good. Tell me about this bit of bad luck. It doesn't have anything to do with Hood does it?" Vaisey questioned.

"No, we haven't seen any sign of him, but we are taking extra precautions at your recamendation, my lord. Our trouble was with a runaway." Drake said lowering his voice to a whisper. "Two girls escaped, we caught one but the other is still out there."

"Ahh…would you like to borrow some guards, to help in your hunt?"

"No, but thank you for the offer, my men will find her and when they do she shall pay for the trouble she's caused." Drake said with a smirk customary to Gisbourne.

"Good, I knew I liked you. Make sure you let me know if Hood gives you any trouble."

"Yes Sheriff" Drake said with a bow before walking out of the castle courtyard and into the streets of Nottingham.


End file.
